Education
Bawden"s early artwork held strong focus on drawing and he studied at The Phillip Street Theatre, Peter Williams School of Dramatic from age nine to thirteen. Bawden completed a Bachelor of s in Painting at the Canberra School of The Australian National University between 1992 and 1997.
Career
He lives and works in Sydney, Australia. Bawden showed a keen interest in visual art and drama from a young age. In 1995 Bawden spent six months studying traditional European Oil Painting at The China National Academy of Fine, Hangzhou, China, a very formative experience for the young artistdeveloping a sense of the importance and power of beauty in art (as a transformative quality), through conversation with his Chinese peers.
Bawden"s graduation work explored the suppression and emergence of homosexual desire, making work spanning graffiti, mixed media paintings and a street poster project incorporating at least 2000 photocopies pasted up on the streets of Sydney and Canberra, like a dog marking his territory.
Bawden was included in "Hatched-National Graduate Show", in 1998. Bawden"s sculptural-installation "esque-thoughts brought forth by our fingers" gained him his first wide exposure in the "2001 National Sculpture Prize and exhibition" at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
This series of work formed Bawden"s first solo show at GRANTPIRRIE, Sydney in 2002. This exhibition led to the collection of four of Bawden"s works by Queensland Gallery and inclusion in their 2003 exhibition "Colour".
In 2003 Bawden was invited to the "Creative New Zealand" residence at Dunedin Public Gallery, New Zealand, producing the exhibition "the spring tune".
Bawden returned to Beijing in late 2005 sharing a 3-month studio residency at Red Gate Gallery, artist in residency program, with Sydney artist Nell. During this Beiijng residency Bawden performed a site specific work "to hold a bowl of water level" at the exhibition, "Demolish? Demolish. Demolish!" protesting at the Suo Jia Cun artist village Beijing.
Membership
Between 1996 and 1998 Bawden was a member of Association for Convention Marketing Executives performance group, (initiated by the inspirational, late sculptor David Watt,) performing simultaneous, individual performance with 17 fellow students and graduates of Canberra School of, engaging aspects of the absurd, object performance and site specific works.